The Thirteen Trials of the Deceptive Monk

As for the Demon Theory Research Institute... the atmosphere in the Demon Theory Research Institute was quite friendly. The president was apologizing desperately and almost begging for forgiveness on his knees, while the members were begging the president to share more experience in writing pornographic content so that everyone could make a fortune and earn demon coins together.

"The clubs at our school are all really amazing," Lu Wenjun commented.

“I’m ready to go back to being a member of the dormitory club,” Faris said. “Even if the student council begged me to join, I wouldn’t go.”

Student Council Vice President Mr. Giltan was still standing in front of the hockey puck, unleashing a torrent of abuse at the sealed Melt. His eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets with rage: "You! You have something to say now!!"

Melt's voice drifted out softly, tinged with obvious sobs: "Waaah, I just wanted to stand up for Senior Fang and the others who ate so much X... but I got caught up in the atmosphere and things got a little out of hand..."

"Fine! What a touching brotherhood! Then you can pay the fines and be locked up for those bastards!!" Giltan was furious.

Melt's attitude changed drastically: "No, Vice President, you don't know this, it was all Fang Mo's doing. Please send the bill to Fang Mo, thank you..."

"I'm going to report this to the Contract Hall and have your morality score reduced to a negative number!"

"My morality score surpassed -1000 56 years ago~~"

Giltan was so enraged that he started breathing fire, and the onlookers were worried that he would die of anger. But the vice president managed to control his emotions. He had several student council members carry the hockey puck out and walked beside it, laughing maniacally.

"Alright, Melt. I know conventional methods won't work on you, so I won't deduct any points this time. I've specially prepared special treatment for you as a senior!"

"What? I'm sorry, but I can't accept a confession gift..."

Melt stealthily dug a small hole inside the puck, preparing to slip away. As soon as she peeked out, she saw a very familiar strand of silver hair.

Professor Ji Chuanjun stood in front of the ice hockey puck, beaming with smiles.

"Miss Melt Sefa".

Miss Melt Sefa's face turned a cool, hockey-like color.

"Professor Ji, it's been a long time! I hope you're in good health. You see, I'm getting on in years, so let's not go through that back in school routine, okay? I...I really don't want to go to the underworld again! Waaaaaah!"

Lu Wenjun and a group of other freshmen curiously peered out the window and saw a ghastly white skull, the size of a house, appear out of thin air and swallow Melt whole, ice hockey puck.

They both broke out in a cold sweat, while Giltan laughed wildly at the sky: "Serves you right! Serves you right, you idiot woman, ahahahaha!!"

"The vice president threw away his manners like trash," Faris muttered.

"That shows that manners really don't do much good," Virsa said.

They quickly turned around when Giltan wasn't looking. After laughing wildly, Giltan took out a small comb, styled his hair in front of the mirror, and then returned to the hall. He walked towards Lü Wenjun and extended his hand.

"Thank you for saving this orientation event," he said earnestly.

"It's alright, please don't worry about it." Lü Wenjun shook hands with him. "Pershka isn't here; she just left."

“Another eccentric genius,” Giltan said with a wry smile. “I…can’t deny what Melt Sepha said earlier. As she said, we magicians always have our quirks. But the fact that successive generations of predecessors have persisted in doing this kind of activity can’t be solely out of self-interest.”

"I have no intention of inviting you to join the student council. In fact, it's fine if you don't choose any clubs... I just hope that you, as new students, can retain some aspirations for campus life, and not be like those people from Qianniandong, who always look at things from the worst possible perspective."

The three exchanged glances, and Lü Wenjun said, "Actually... we think campus life is still very exciting."

“They’ve gone too far with the passion,” Faris added.

“That’s good,” Giltan laughed.

After he left, many senior members of the club seemed to want to come and exchange pleasantries. Lu Wenjun was terrified of these social interactions—who knew which one of them with sharp eyes could see through his true colors—so he quickly jumped out of the window and slipped away like a weasel.

He heard music behind him; the belated band arrived hastily, and the dance finally resumed. He knew many students were dancing, with pre-existing partners or complete strangers.

He walked through the tree-lined path to the long staircase leading to the teaching building. Pershka sat on the highest step, gazing up at the night sky. Moonlight streamed through her orange-red hair, illuminating her snow-white crown and beautiful profile.

Lu Wenjun was stunned. At this moment, the girl appeared unusually quiet, yet also somewhat ethereal. Her innate beauty was pushed to an unreal level, making one doubt whether the enchanting witch who had previously amazed the dance hall truly existed.

Perhaps it was merely a collective fantasy fueled by the atmosphere, or perhaps a fairy existing only in dreams. She led a dance on the dance floor and then quietly disappeared, leaving behind a lingering image of the dreamer in reality.

Aren't you going back?

He asked the question instinctively, and Pershka turned her head. Suddenly, the fleeting impression vanished, and the girl from his dream returned to reality, with a reassuring pride, playfulness, and a touch of weariness.

"No, I don't like noisy places."

“The scenes you imagine are different from reality, right?” Lü Wenjun laughed. “If you keep doing this, people will say you’re aloof.”

"Didn't you escape too?" Pershka rolled her eyes at him. "Besides, my feet hurt so much. Wearing high heels and then having a magical battle right afterward, I'm really fed up."

"You've been relying on me most of the time and you still have the nerve to complain." Lü Wenjun stretched. "I'm the one who's really suffering, okay? I've been practicing so hard until now, and then you suddenly decided to come out and stand in the cold wind, and I haven't even had a chance to dance!"

"Go wait in the dance hall, a whole bunch of girls will come looking for you."

"No way! I'm not trying to socialize with strangers." Lü Wenjun made a face. "I'm going to renege on my promise. I want compensation."

Pershka couldn't help but chuckle: "Childish!"

Curious, she turned her head, wanting to hear what this guy would say, only to find that Lü Wenjun, with his back to the moonlight, bowed and extended his white-gloved hand to her. His movements were polite, just like the young men in the distant hall extending invitations to women.

Between the close touch of white gloves and the soft call, all the surrounding noise suddenly vanished, leaving the forest utterly silent, and the music from the ballroom clearly audible. In that single second, in that instant, the scene from the dream overlapped with reality. The quiet woods resembled a magnificent palace, and the blurry gentleman dance partner from my imagination transformed into the face of a young man so close at hand.

She smiled slightly, and with the young man's help, she got up and listened to the melody coming from afar.

Unrelated to any event or the gaze of others, they danced a simple and joyful dance.

Under the night sky, figures mingled.

Her skirt billowed with her dance steps, reflecting the moonlight.

Testimonials

Tomorrow at 8:00 AM.

As you all know, in order to make my readers proudly shout "We big seals are also animals that can update ten times a day", I have always had a dream of updating ten times a day... However, due to the dual pressure of the pressure of stockpiling manuscripts and the progress of the plot, I have to slightly reduce this dream from ten to eight.

...Hey, look, if you add a round seal ball next to "8 chapters" it becomes "explosive chapters", right? So I can still say there will be an explosive chapter tomorrow!

Just kidding. So, to briefly summarize the update schedule for the release date, I really, really wanted to whet your appetites with an exciting main storyline, but as I kept updating, I realized I'd written a little too many comedic and slice-of-life chapters… So, in conclusion, eight chapters tomorrow…

All of them are funny (sad).

So we'll update three chapters at 10 AM to release the first funny episode, two chapters at 4 PM to release the second funny episode, and then three more chapters at 8 PM to release the third funny episode.

From my personal perspective, I think the second story is more comedic, the third story is more lively, and the first story is more like an old-fashioned light novel. I hope everyone can have a good laugh and have some fun this weekend! If you enjoy reading, please also subscribe, vote, recommend, and tip! Thank you!

call……

Now that I've finished explaining what needed to be explained, let's talk about the book.

The initial intention behind writing this book was to create a lighthearted and enjoyable story, and perhaps a little something extra. I plan to write a campus comedy with a style reminiscent of classic light novels, set in a fictional world based on real-life myths and supernatural tales. This story will feature a goofy protagonist, mischievous classmates, and adorable girls.

Judging from the current progress, I think this book is quite in line with this general direction. Although superpower stories always contain some superpower battles, the intensity of this work is actually not very high, and the outcome is not crucial most of the time... because when I constructed the battle parts of this work, I used harmless competitions such as "Spell Card Duels" and "Pokémon Battles" as references. If fights in the school were all about breaking bones and splattering blood, then the author, the reader, and the protagonist would all be immersed in tense life-or-death battles, and there would be no easy way to relax.

Therefore, if you enjoy the current intensity of the conflict, you can continue reading with confidence. Although this work will definitely include a main storyline (agent missions), I can confidently guarantee that the future main storyline will not take a brutal turn.

The purpose of the main storyline—which delves deeper than the minor conflicts among the students—is not simply to find a few powerful figures to fight to the death for the sake of conflict, but rather to present readers with some of the more mysterious and exciting content within this worldview: myths, legends, and stories. From the ghosts and spirits of urban legends to famous monsters, towering heroes, and ancient deities.

In my personal opinion, this is the greatest essence of fictional stories based on real myths and legends. Familiar figures. Characters we love. Stories we've heard. The idea of ​​bringing those vibrant characters from childhood picture books to life again under my pen always fills me with creative motivation.

Some of these characters will appear as "phantoms" like Spring-Heeled Jack, while others will naturally appear in the story, like Cabone and Whither. The significance of the main storyline is precisely to allow certain characters who are rarely seen under normal circumstances to take center stage and showcase a corner of the fantasy world.

Aside from that, I'll still dedicate a significant portion of my writing to slice-of-life, comedy, and romance. I'll write old-fashioned Japanese light comedies like Shin-chan, as well as lowbrow comedies reminiscent of Gintama (no offense intended, just that I can't think of a more elegant and fitting term). I'll write about buddy-buddy bickering like in Grand Blue, and romantic battles of wits like in Baka and Test and Kaguya-sama: Love Is War. Occasionally, I'll write some office humor for adults, or American comedies like those from humorous anime films…

To be honest, I really love comedy. It's all about happy endings, no one getting hurt, and a moment of relaxation. I believe laughter is a vital part of life, especially as we get older and need more carefree, lighthearted smiles. Perhaps some jokes aren't as funny as I expected, or maybe they just didn't quite hit the mark and became a bit dull, but please believe in my love for comedy. I will continue to gather material, strive to improve, and try to bring you more humorous clips.

As for the romance aspect, all the important female characters in this work have now appeared. Learning from the lessons of the previous work, I won't push the plot to the point of confession and romance too quickly—because, as one of my favorite authors said, there's nothing more boring than a romance that ends in marriage—I want to maintain the atmosphere of more than friendship but less than lovers, gradually developing their relationship so that both myself and everyone else can enjoy the most interesting and suspenseful parts.

This book isn't about factional strife, so there's no such thing as defeat. The girls will all win in the end, and perhaps only Mr. Lü will suffer a little bit of bittersweet pain as a result (laughs).

The adorable heroines naturally have their own stories and main tales, but these won't happen too quickly. Since we're largely a campus story, we won't suddenly jump into a "fight from the sky" scenario and head to some desperate Mythic+ dungeon for endless battles… that would be too much and clash with the atmosphere. In the future, the protagonists will certainly adventure outside of Mythic+ Trista, but that will be after they've fully enjoyed campus life and unraveled the mysteries of the Mythic+ dungeons.

There are many other interesting people and things to see in the Greater Rift, so why not enjoy them with Wenjun?

From then on, the ratio of daily life to serious drama will remain roughly the same as it has been so far: the story progresses amidst lively antics, then an incident is resolved before returning to daily life. To be honest, this arrangement doesn't really feel like a typical web novel... However, I did try writing a more serious web novel style in my previous work, but it wasn't as enjoyable as it is now, so I think it's best to maintain the pace that's most comfortable for me.

That's all for my rambling about the book. Looking back, it feels like I'm writing a letter of commitment (laughs). I was a little nervous before it went on sale, and I hope everyone can have some expectations and confidence in the author.

Then, the usual thank-you segment.

First of all, thank you so much to all the guild leaders for your generous donations! Thank you to the Silver Guild leader, Earthbound Spirit, and guild leaders: Reverse Light First, Antsaber, Unknown Dream Seeker, yzcaption, Strategist Without a Plan 7, RPG Tenth Generation MK2, If You're a Brother, Give Me a Tathagata Palm, Kamikyo, Treat People with Sincerity, Ghostly Hero Group, i-oooo-iii, Retsu Kaioh in Gensokyo Challenges the Strong, and The Stain of the Legend. Your donations have filled the author with abundant creative motivation, provided strong funding for research, and, most importantly, instilled confidence in the author.

Here's a lion dance for you all! Wishing you good health and happiness every day! dong dong dong!

I'd also like to express my sincere gratitude to all readers for reading, commenting, recommending, and voting with monthly tickets. Your witty comments more than doubled the humor of this work. Thank you to the curator who listened to my complaints when I was stuck, thank you to reader Yiba for teaching me about the various recommendation mechanisms on Qidian, and thank you to editor Penglai for helping to control the title and synopsis. Thank you to artist Yimo for providing the beautiful character illustrations and cover.

Special thanks to Otter Spirit and Tho, who helped review the manuscript before publication. The beginning of the book was revised more than 5 times. The author was tired of writing it, but they were tired of reading it.

Finally, let's talk about Chami! (Loudly)

Having written for several years, "Deception" is the author's best-performing book. It received recommendations from the Sanjiang Awards, ranked first on the new book chart and third on the overall light novel chart, and even briefly reached second place one day before. It truly makes me laugh in my dreams.

We're all adults now, so let's not hide anything. First-day subscription data is indeed very important for a book, so I'm asking all readers for their support and encouragement! I'm begging for all kinds of votes, monthly tickets, and tips. If you're a reader who prefers free content, please click on the first chapter after it's released to give me some support, because your reading is really important to me and the book.

That concludes my shameless hawking; the author is off to finish writing. Just two final words.

I really enjoy the story I'm currently writing.

I can't wait to show everyone more content.

Book One: The Land Where the Gods Sleep

Chapter 46 A Thief in the House

(Agent...) Prophet Sheen spoke with a hint of resentment, (Have you really been working lately...?)

(Of course, he's enjoying a fulfilling campus life.) Lü Wenjun laughed heartily.

(I'm talking about work! The Jade Record! There's been absolutely no progress lately, has there?!)

(That being said, it seems your investigation isn't making any progress either.)

Sheen was speechless: (Well, that's because the enemy is too cunning! Ever since I learned that the information had been leaked, I've been trying my best to trace it back, but the enemy's information concealment is too sophisticated... My prophecy and the mainframe's calculations failed. Even a god who specializes in deception can't usually do this well...)

(Not questioning, just out of pure curiosity, what is the accuracy rate of your predictions?)

Sheen hesitated: (Normally, he can succeed once out of fifty attempts...)

(puff.)

(What are you laughing at! Don't laugh! Watch closely, I'm about to predict what will happen to you soon!)

Sheen let out a strange grumbling sound: (Gurgle... I sensed it. You'll soon be entangled in a sticky, inseparable relationship with one of the world's top beauties!)

(...)

(...)

Lu Wenjun tried to smile politely: (This is really... something to look forward to! A two percent probability is pretty high, isn't it? It'll definitely come true.)

(—I'm never talking to you again, you damn agent!)

Sheen angrily hung up the call, and Lü Wenjun went back to the tavern to continue serving dishes and water.

After the dance, campus life returned to normal. With no more daily dance practice, the schedule became more relaxed, allowing for free time to study, explore, or simply play with Sheen.

After his impressive debut at the freshman welcome dance, many clubs approached him privately to recruit him, but Lu Wenjun politely declined them all. He felt his schedule was already full enough, leaving little free time for club activities... Besides, the revelation of Senior Melt's embarrassing past was too damaging, and from a personal perspective, he didn't really want to get involved with these guys.

"Although my plan to thwart the ball failed, I was still very successful in disrupting the club!" Ghost Melt said proudly.

She was now floating on the ground, her body transparent, a cold, drifting spirit. Lu Wenjun placed a cup of Styx water in front of her and couldn't help but speak up: "Senior Melt, you look a bit like you're dead."

“My physical body is still locked up in the underworld, what can I do? That place is terrifying, you know? I was almost skinned alive yesterday,” Melt said, shivering.

"To be honest, I don't really understand the point of this kind of attack... even though everyone knows they'll definitely be dealt with."

“Oh dear, do you know why the kappa would try to steal the 'Shiri-ko-dama'?” Melt asked.

"How would I know what monsters are thinking?"

"Because that's the 'meaning' of a kappa! A kappa that doesn't steal the 'shirikodama' is just an ugly, bald guy!" Melt said seriously. "That's also the answer to your question before: doing evil is our 'meaning'!"

"We, the Thousand-Year Cave, are a legitimate villainous organization!" Black-uniformed A chimed in.

“That’s right! We’re not a pathetic, weak, and despicable group that’s suffered setbacks in campus life and lacks the confidence to step into society, so we can only huddle together for warmth in the dormitory!” shouted B in black uniform.

"Shut up! You've hurt my already fragile self-esteem once again!"

"What's all the fuss about? Get your hands dirty and go deliver the food!" Huther shouted.

"Yes..." "Let's set off now..." "This is also for the sake of the subsequent operations..."

The men in black uniforms, looking disheveled, slung their takeout boxes over their shoulders and dashed out using their respective spells.

According to rumors circulating in the news agency, Millennium Cave went too far this time. In addition to Melt being put in solitary confinement, the school also ordered him to pay a fine, the amount of which was so large that even the supposedly wealthy Fang Mo screamed in despair.